SEALed With Love (DiCarlo Brides book 2) (The DiCarlo Brides)

by Heather Tullis

  “I’ll be here when you finish. Take your time.” He released her hand, then looked at it a little confused, as if he hadn’t realized he was still holding it.

  Sage felt bereft when he let go. She put on a smile and nodded to him. “See you later.”

  Her stomach was tied in knots and her chest felt tight, almost like a panic attack, but she promised herself she wouldn’t let it take over this time—not that her resolve had ever affected the attacks when they came before.

  A receptionist directed her to a wood-paneled conference room where two blonds were already seated in padded chairs. Sage paused in the doorway and looked at them. They were both vaguely familiar, but she was pretty sure they weren’t George’s daughters, Cami and Lana—didn’t they have auburn hair? She’d looked up pictures of them a few years earlier, curious about the women who actually got to use the DiCarlo name. Unlike her.

  She pushed back the twinge of bitterness—it wasn’t healthy and blocked her talent. A tall blond man with blue eyes greeted her with a handshake. “Hello. You must be Sage. I’m Alex, please, take a seat. We’re waiting for a few more people still.”

  “Thanks.” She slid into a seat on the end and glance at the woman beside her. She was fairly tall with long, straight hair falling down her back, nearly to her waist. She looked Sage over with a shrewd gaze, but didn’t say anything. She gave off an air of hostility and Sage had an immediate impression of emotional pain. She pulled air in and out of her lungs, slow and easy to cleanse her mind. It took a couple of breaths before she could be sure that the impression was something other than her own emotions thrumming inside her.

  She glanced up when two redheads walked into the room. These were Lana and Cami. They had tight faces and their mother’s auburn hair. Sage wondered if their father had told them about his cancer months ago instead of only weeks. Had they known while he kept it a secret from her alone? Pain tightened her chest again and she breathed deeply while the attorney greeted the women. He was warm and affectionate with them; kissing their cheeks, squeezing their hands. It was clear he knew them well.

  They took the two seats on the other end of the row and Sage noticed there was one more spot left. Just one more person coming? And who were these other women?

  The redheads whispered together for a moment before a stately blond—another blond?—entered, glanced around the room, then pursing her lips, sat in the last empty seat. Sage recognized her as well, though it took a moment to place her face. They had been on the same trip to Washington DC when they were in high school, even roomed together for the week, though she couldn’t remember much about Delphi now. Confused, she looked at Alex, who was moving to the front of the room.

  “I’m glad you could all make it, though I’m sorry for the reason you’re here. I’m Alexander Checketts, the executor of George Marlin DiCarlos’s estate. Because all of you were important to George, he remembered you in his will.” He glanced toward Cami and she lifted a finger. “As you’ll be able to tell when you hear the terms, this was a fairly recent revision.”

  “Aren’t there a lot of other bequests in the will? Friends, employees?” Cami swept her eyes over the other women, doubt and mistrust in her eyes.

  “They will all be contacted separately, but this portion of the will concerns each of you equally, and your father and I felt it best to present it to you as a private group.” He picked up the legal forms and began to read some mind-numbing legal jargon.

  When he reached the bequests, he studied them. “I’m going to skip over the little things he wanted given to others, though I’d be happy to provide copies of the will to anyone who would like to check it. I’ll go straight to the part concerning all of you.”

  All of you? Sage studied the other women, all of whom seemed confused, but the truth hit her like a punch to the gut, even before he read the next part.

  “To my daughters, Camellia DiCarlo, Sage Parker, Rosemary Keogh, Lantana DiCarlo, Delphinium Gifford and Jonquil Chestnut, I leave my latest resort.”

  To his daughters. They were all his daughters. Sage’s head spun and she put a hand to her forehead.

  Alex didn’t wait for anyone to respond, but plowed on. “‘Yes, you are all my daughters, though none of you knew about everyone else. You will share equally in my legacy, but first I have a requirement. The newest hotel and spa will be ready to open in September and if you want to earn your part of the inheritance, you will all need to pull together to make it shine, as I know you will.

  “‘All of you have areas of expertise that will be valuable in the launch of this latest enterprise—expertise most of you have refused to fully utilize. You have two weeks from tomorrow to show up in Juniper Ridge, Colorado, to put everything into motion. There is a house I have purchased and furnished for your use during the course of your stay in the area.

  “‘The trial period will last for one year from the opening date of the resort and your work will be evaluated by the regional director and Alexander Checketts. If you prove your mettle as I know you all will, you will each inherit equal parts of my estate, and share ownership in the hotel chain.’” Alex mentioned the estate value, which was far more than she had expected—what would she do with that kind of money?

  Alex continued, “Those who stick it out will get their one-sixth split, the rest will lose everything. If any of you choose not to participate, your portion of the inheritance will be donated to an organization or charity I have specified.” He paused in the reading, a tick in his jaw giving away his unhappiness about the terms of the will.

  He met their gazes. “So you know, your father was very careful to choose a different organization for each of you for your portion of the inheritance. He made certain the charities were ones whose core values you’d despise, giving you added incentive to do as he wanted. You can speak to me after this meeting if you want to know where your portion of the inheritance would go.” His eyes skimmed over them again, then returned to the will to continue reading. “As I now own all of your places of employment, or the buildings in which they reside, my directions will ensure you are all out of work if you choose to defy me.”

  Though Sage had already committed to take the job in Colorado, the fact that he was strong-arming them all to do his will made her heart break a little more. How could the sweet, thoughtful man she had always loved do this to his daughters? And how could he have so many and have managed to keep them all a secret? Betrayal knifed through her, stealing her breath.

  “Who needs his money or his job? I can find a job on my own.” Delphi stood and headed for the door.

  “Delphi, come back and listen to the rest. There will be time for dramatic gestures later,” Alex said, his voice firm without being harsh.

  She turned and glared at him. “I like my life the way it is. If it wasn’t good enough for him, it was his problem.” She stalked out, slamming the door behind her.

  Alex’s jaw clenched, but he addressed the rest of them “I’ll catch up with her later. If you can wait until I finish reading the will, I’ll leave you each with a copy of your contract and give you time to consider the terms.”

  He read off the list of their jobs. Cami would lead customer service, Sage would open and run the spa, Rosemary would head the restaurant kitchen, Lana would be hotel manager, Delphi would be events planner, and Jonquil—the youngest of the group—would run a floral shop and provide all of the flowers for the hotel and its events. He did a quick intro, passed out their packets with a private letter from their father, then vacated the room, inviting them to come talk to them in his office if they had questions.

  Sage sat numbly for a long moment while Rosemary huffed and walked out, purpose in her step. Lana and Cami talked together, both even paler than they had been before, and Cami left the room. Jonquil, an athletic woman with corkscrew blond curls, was several inches over Sage’s five-foot-three. She turned to Sage and looked at her. “Do you remember that marine biology camp Dad sent us on?”

  The memory pop
ped into place and Sage nodded, smiling a little. “Lana was there, too, wasn’t she?”

  “Yeah. That’s what I was thinking. It was a fun trip.” Jonquil shook her head. “What was he thinking doing this to us?”

  Sage shook her head. “I don’t know. I feel like my world is spinning.”

  Jonquil stood. “I gotta book, find a climbing wall or something to work through this.” She pushed the hair back from her face, her brows furrowing. There were smudges under her eyes and her eyelids drooped.

  “You look tired,” Sage said, understanding completely.

  “Yeah. I’ve barely slept since Alex called to tell me about Dad. It’s been a long few days.”

  “It sure has.” Sage stood, but her legs felt unsteady beneath her. “I gotta go, too.”

  In the hall Jonquil paused, glanced down the hall, then moved toward the attorney’s office after all.

  Sage thought of Joel waiting for her outside, her rock. She fingered the folder in her hand, turmoil rolling inside her—her father had acknowledged her at last, and it would become public. Yet he did it in one of the most painful ways possible—while sparing himself any of the fall out. Resentment curdled inside her, making her wish she could turn back the clock.

  Sage found Joel standing by the light pole, waiting. He wore a charcoal gray suit with the ever-present mirrored sunglasses. He wasn’t the type to melt into a crowd—at least, she never had trouble finding him. She could spot him from blocks away—not that he often let her be that far away from him. He was good at not crowding her every second of the day, but was never so far away that he couldn’t step in if she got nervous.

  They spent time together, but mostly he protected her without getting personal. She hardly knew more about him now than she had when they first met, but his presence was comforting, especially with her father’s death turning her world upside down. The news she’d just gotten didn’t help at all.

  “How was it?” he asked when he joined her at the end of the sidewalk.

  “Shocking.” She was still reeling from the news, felt a little freezer burned from the frosty way Rosemary had looked at her, at all of the others.

  Joel took her elbow and led her toward the rental car. “Were his other daughters there?”

  “You have no idea.” She waited while he helped her into her seat, then went around to the other side.

  “Okay, spill,” he said before either of them had their seatbelts on. “Did one of them freak out on you? You’re not hurt, are you?”

  “No, everyone was perfectly calm.” She tipped her head, remembering the way Delphi had stormed out. “More or less. But I suppose it could have been the blood draining out of everyone’s heads when we realized all six of us were his daughters.”

  Joel had been studying the road, looking for a break in traffic to slide into when he heard that. His head swiveled back to her. “What? Six? Not three of you?”

  “No. Apparently Dad got around.” She’d thought she was disillusioned when she’d found out nearly twenty years earlier that he’d cheated on his wife with her mom, but now the few remainders of her white-knight ideals about her dad came crumbling down. She fingered her folder, thinking of the private note the attorney said was inside. She hadn’t opened it yet, too angry and upset to give it a fair chance.

  “We’re all named after plants, of course,” she said. “And we’re all going to be working at the resort in Colorado. And living together—he bought us a house, which we all have to live in unless we get married.” That announcement had got a big reaction from everyone. She wanted to scream, and then curl up in a ball and cry for hours. They’d reach the hotel soon and she could be alone for a while. She’d known the reading of her father’s will would be traumatic, but she’d had no idea.

  Joel mumbled a curse under his breath.

  Sage rested her head against the window, feeling the May sun beat on her hair. “I’d been looking forward to the job, to the move and change of scene—even if winters in ski country are going to be a drastic change. Now I’m not sure if I want to go after all.”

  He pulled the car into traffic, then slid his hand onto her arm, just above her wrist. “It doesn’t change the fact that he loved you.”

  “No.” But it tainted his image in her mind, and that was as bad. “You’re really coming to Colorado with me?” He’d said he was, but now, more than ever, she needed to know he’d be there for her as she lived with five women she didn’t know. The fact that her half-brother Harrison would be there as well wasn’t nearly as soothing as the thought of Joel at her side. Harrison. She would have to tell him what happened today. Her father had treated him like one of his own. Harrison would be shocked and disappointed by the revelation as well. She hoped her father had remembered him in the will, with fewer strings attached.

  “Where you go, I go. That’s the contract,” Joel reassured her.

  Sage had been meaning to ask him about that. “With him gone, are you still under contract?” She didn’t want him to leave her now, not when everything else was falling apart. Even if he did hold himself back from her, keep things on a purely professional level when she wanted much more. She needed his steadying influence if she was going to deal with this bombshell.

  “He didn’t miss a trick.” Joel stopped at a red light and looked at her, squeezing her wrist. The touch sent a rush of heat through her, but she knew it meant nothing to him. “He planned ahead. I got a letter from the lawyer saying I’m staying on retainer through your contract in Colorado, until the danger is past or you fire me.” He grinned. “And I’ll get paid extra to head security at the hotel, so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

  She’d seen the Spartan way he lived and wondered why he cared about the money when he didn’t spend it. Sage smiled weakly, then turned to look out the window again. She had hoped they would at least become friends someday, that she would cease to be only a job to him. It didn’t look like that was ever going to happen. She’d have to reign in her growing attraction to him. Somehow. “Apparently there will be a meeting for all of us in Colorado in a couple of weeks. I’ll have the lawyer book us to go out there. I’m sure they can make an excuse about you checking on security stuff while we’re in the area.”

  “Let me know the dates.” He pulled his hand away and took a left turn.

  Sage wrapped her arms around herself, feeling remarkably empty considering the way Joel’s presence filled the car. She already missed her dad.

  Present Day--Early September

  Sage had been a wreck all day at work. The problem with the person who had been trying to ruin their family name and business all summer had come to a head the previous night and it was all Sage could do not to curl up in a ball and fall apart completely—but the hotel had opened only three days ago and she couldn’t take a break yet. She tried to project an air of self-confidence for her employees, despite the questions and long looks as rumors had flown, but the effort was exhausting. She checked the clock again and wondered how soon she could take off. The glass doors to the hallway opened and a man entered bearing a huge bouquet of red roses.

  “Delivery for Sage Parker,” he said.

  “That’s me.” She wondered if they were from Joel. He’d been kind yesterday after he came to their rescue, calming and reassuring her, sticking by her when she was most confused and upset. Flowers didn’t seem like his thing, but once in a while he surprised her, doing something uncharacteristically sweet. Red roses, though... they seemed too romantic considering their business-only relationship. She signed for the delivery and twisted the vase on the front counter until she found the card, pulling it out.

  “Who are they from?” Wendy asked. “A secret admirer?”

  Sage hoped not—it had been so long since she heard from her stalker, she hadn’t even considered it. Her fingers trembled as she pulled the card out of the tiny envelope.

  Sweetheart, I’m sorry you had such a terrible evening. I hope the perfume of these flowers brings sweet drea
ms. Think of me, and our lives together.

  Your future husband

  He knew about the previous night. He had to be close. The note fell from her fingers onto the counter and she barely managed to snatch it up again before Wendy could get close enough to read it.

  “So, who’s it from?”

  “A well-wisher. Someone who heard about last night.” Sage left the roses where they were, unable to stand touching them again and shut herself in her office. Her cell phone rang as she pulled it from her pocket, nearly dropping it before she could answer. It was Joel.

  “Where did those flowers come from?” he asked, his voice tense. Apparently he’d been watching the spa on the camera.

  “Who do you think?” Sage’s voice shook as she fought for control. “He knows about what happened last night. He must be in Juniper Ridge. Word couldn’t have gotten back to California this fast.”

  Joel swore. “I’ll be right there.”

  Sage tried to think through her light-headedness. “No, don’t make a fuss. I don’t want to draw attention to the flowers. If he knows about last night, he could hear from someone if you charge down here and toss them. It could make him escalate.” She turned away from the door so she couldn’t see them, and no one could see her face. “I can’t do this again, Joel. I was finally starting to feel comfortable again. Safe.”

  His tone shifted to calming. “You’ll be fine. I’ll follow you home tonight and we’ll talk to your sisters. We’re going to have to make some changes to your schedule.”

  That meant saying goodbye to the freedom she’d managed to reclaim over the past months of quiet. “I don’t want to involve them, Joel.” Tears sprang to her eyes.

  His response was implacable. “I’ve let you have your way all summer. He’s here, so the time for secrets is past. We’ll tell them tonight—your safety is too important to ignore.”

  That evening Sage smiled at Cami and Vince, Cami’s new fiancé, until her cheeks hurt. Her guts twisted and she kept stealing glances at Joel. His lips were pressed together in a thin line and every look he sent her way was reproachful. He had wanted to announce the return of her stalker—no, the existence of her stalker—to her sister the second they walked in the door, but how could she ruin this moment of happiness?